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Thursday, March 29, 2012

Wow...it has been three weeks since I posted! Once again, I am working too much.

A few thoughts:

1. Green Belt Students and Stances: A 6th kyu green belt in our dojo has approximately 12-15 months of training. Expectations are elevated and weapons training begins. It is no coincidence that this also happens to be the same time frame where students decided to take a break or stop training. We work on stances (directly and indirectly) in every karate class - drills, kata, explanation, details. In kobudo, stances change based on the range of the weapon. The green belt students seem to be having a difficult time transitioning from the kobudo stance to the karate stance.

You can read an excellent article on kobudo stances written by IKKF President Hanshi Heilman here and here. (Side note - A 13 year younger version of me is in a few of the illustration photos).

2. Women's Self-Defense/Awareness/Prevention Classes: I taught a session last weekend. It was a nice group. The only problem - way too short. Several women want additional training. Personally, the hardest part about teaching these sessions is the brief length compared to the amount of information. I hope the prevention/awareness portion of the class will prompt the participants to think further about their own personal prevention and awareness strategies.

3. Kyu Rank Testing: We had a scheduled kyu rank testing on March 15th. The group did well.

4. Daughter Update: My daughter has not missed a karate class. I do not prompt or remind her to attend. Karate is her decision. I will help/guide when asked.

5. Lenten Challenge Update: I am doing pretty good with the challenge. There was one week I missed a few days but I am back on track.

4 comments:

I've been training in Kyokushin Karate since 2009 and I'll be testing for my 6th kyu in a few weeks. And honestly, I wish it were a few weeks further out. I've got 2 kata that I am unhappy with and need more time to iron them out!

re. Green Belts and stances: I'm starting to think that stances are something karate-ka struggle with throughout their training. I'm kinda a new shodan (I figure I can claim it's new for about a year). I practice my stances OBSESSIVELY. What do I hear during class? "No, Stacy, it's a zenkutsu - turn your rear food more."

Brett: Thanks again for the email. Glad to see you were able to post a comment. Best of luck on your 6th kyu test!

Rick: Agreed! :)

Stacy: Thanks for visiting and sharing your thoughts on stances. I still work on improving/refining my stances. After my knee surgery, I had to completely relearn the stances. It took months before stances felt right.

About Me

A practitioner of the Martial Arts for 22 years, I am a student and instructor of Okinawa Kenpo Karate and Kobudo. In April 2007, I injured my knee during a two-person bo form. I had a complete ACL tear. On May 15, 2007, I had my ACL reconstructed using a hamstring graft. This blog shares my thoughts on Karate, Tai Chi, ACL Reconstruction and the Challenges of Parenting.